It's All Silver and Shadows
by Voice of Some Beautiful Song
Summary: She wants his eyes to open to something other than silver and shadows. A oneshot NejiTen fic.


Aha! NejiTen! Haha I was going to turn this into SakuSasu, but I was like no, I already turned the other into ShikaIno. So this is it, YESYES! All you NejiTen fans this is for you!

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_There is something I want to tell you  
but every time you look at me it's all silver and shadows  
and the sky darkens with each passing breath  
dreaming the words away._

She hides from him and she doesn't know why.

He's standing in the middle of the clearing, hands forming seals without hesitation. When he starts to move it's as though he's flying, feet skimming across the green Earth and she almost closes her eyes to imagine what it feels like. The feel of dew is slick under her fingers and she briefly wonders if it's as exciting as walking on water.

Even though he hasn't glanced her way she knows he sees her, knows she's there, even without his Byakugan activated. Her presence is as familiar to him as her own, even though he would never admit this aloud.

It's useless to hide from someone who can always see you but she does it anyway.

She crouches silently on the tree branch, watching for a few more precious minutes, his back to her. Then she's down on the ground, running, flinging weapons at him without restraint. He dodges each of them and turns around to face her just as she brings her foot up in a swift kick aimed at his side. He blocks it with a kick of his own, and his arm shoots up to grab her as she twists around to bring her other foot towards his neck. She unveils a hidden kunai and slashes at him, forcing him to let her go, and she flips away.

"You're getting faster." He says the words as though reciting facts from a book, no pride or admiration in his voice. His opaque eyes move toward her own steadily, betraying nothing.

"I've been training." She tells him, slipping her kunai back into it's place. She looks away from him for a moment, getting her bearings in gear as she continues to speak. "This mission has been pretty dull, I've had plenty of free time to do as I please."

"Yes." She feels like yelling at him for saying such a simple word to equally meaningless talk. But this is how it always is, how it's always been.

His voice holds nothing, just as his eyes do, and it's the nothing that makes her want to run at him like a banshee and at the same time fall on the ground weeping. She stands there staring at him, wanting to tell him something, but scared he might think her weak. The urge is almost overwhelming, she wants to just let the words fall.

"It's time to go." He turns around, not moving, only starting to walk when she's beside him. Her throat tightened as she realizes that this is the only time he waits for her and again she wants to say something to him, show him something, other then when his eyes are closed.

But even when they're open she doesn't know if they can see and without confidence it's hopeless to try and lead the blind.

So she puts a smile on her face and starts to chatter on the way back, not wanting to feel the silence.  
The effluence of moonlight softly settles around her, gently touches the skin of her cheek. She thinks she hears something move outside the window, the flutter of wings, or maybe, the padding of footsteps. She strains her ears to listen, eyes shut, hands unconsciously tightening into fists. But the only sound that reaches her is the whisper of crumpling sheets and night's solitude. Sadness starts to curl around the edges of her thoughts before she can remind herself where she is, who she is. She tries to clear her mind but there's still something. She slowly lets her eyelids flutter open and takes in her surroundings.

It's all silver and shadows.

She gets out of bed, careful to tiptoe against the wood of the floor. She lets her auburn hair hang down against the back of the white sleeping gown. She slips out of the room, deciding to leave the small hair ribbons behind.

The silhouette of her small body glides across the wall as she hurries to the left, past Lee's room. She can hear him murmur in his sleep, probably dreaming about more victories to be won, more missions to complete. She hesitates slightly, debating whether to go in to talk. He's always helped her, always managed to make her smile. Her hand starts to move toward the door before she snatches it back and continues on.

Then she's in front of another door and turns the knob without needing to unlock it . It's always open right now. As she enters the small pinpoints of starlight fall into her eyes mixing with the stinging prickling already there. He's sleeping, a light sheet over his body, the smooth sleekness of skin glowing. His cheeks are lightly flushed from dreaming and beads of sweat shine between his strands of dark hair.

She goes and slips in beside him, laying her head on his shoulder. She glides her fingers across the skin of his chest, his neck, until the strained look around his eyes relax and their lids move upwards. Then he _looks_ at her with _open_ eyes and sends more than he can ever say to her. His arm moves to curl around her waist, his other to lightly brush her cheek. It's this moment that she loves the most between them.

Then his eyes close again and her heart slightly clenches with each deepening breath. She will have to wait another day to pass before he will look at her again. She keeps her eyes open as long as she can, just to watch, just in case he wakes up. The knowledge that he'll be gone when she awakes keeps her up. In the morning the blankets will be neatly smoothed over the place he now occupies and she'll be alone.

But as the moon moves across the sky her eyelids begin to close as the comfort overwhelms her and she sighs softly, tightening her grip on him. She wants him to open to his eyes again, to see them look at her, but the next time they do she knows she'll just see silver and shadows.

End.

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Ok. So a bit angsty, which is why I was going to change it to SakuSasu, but then there wouldn't be any silver or shadow. Sigh The complications of life. :P Now go, and click the little button to tell me what you think. As always it's much appreciated.


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